First, I generally agree that the governor and the legislature should stay out of the University of Maryland Law Clinic's business, but when the law clinic goes so far afield and acts in direct contravention to their stated mission, someone needs to hold them accountable. Their dean certainly isn't going to, nor is their Board of Visitors. Consider this: a core commitment of the law school's mission statement is, "The pursuit of justice through improving legal delivery systems and serving those who have been disadvantaged by the legal system or denied access to it."

The law clinic's client was the Waterkeeper Alliance, which was founded and is led by Robert Kennedy Jr. According to its annual report, its fiscal 2012 revenues were $4.6 million, and expenses were $3.4 million; that is a $1.2 million profit for one year (and they are a non-profit). Waterkeeper Alliance routinely, as a matter of practice, and as a means to achieve its goals, institutes lawsuits across the country.

Indeed, are they the type of client who has been disadvantaged by the legal system? Or denied access to it? Why should Maryland taxpayers provide funding for the litigation exploits of this group? Or of any group for that matter? If the law clinic represented the tea party for instance, I hardly think you would be defending them.

Second, the underlying assumption of your article is that Eastern Shore chicken farming does in fact pollute the Chesapeake Bay. That may or may not be true, I don't know. What I do know is that Waterkeeper Alliance had the perfect, hand-picked opportunity to prove it. They had nationally recognized environmental law professors and hundreds of thousands of hours of legal work at their disposal, provided at no cost to them (but at a cost to you and me), and they did not prove it. Why not?

I know people are worried that opening up the Atlantic coast to offshore drilling would pose a risk of a possible oil spill ("Getting the off-shore shaft," Jan. 28). In fact, it's inevitable that there will be some oil spilled and some environmental damage done. That's not pessimism, that's...

One expects a certain amount of bluster and prevarication from politicians. It's all part of telling an audience whatever they want to hear. As H.L. Mencken once noted, "if a politician observed he had cannibals among his constituents, he'd promise them missionaries for dinner."

On behalf of 36,000 Maryland Farm Bureau families, I have to disagree with your editorial on the issue of the new phosphorus rules ("Phosphorus rules, finally," Nov. 18). Gov. Martin O'Malley did not get it right. In fact, this is effectively just one last tax increase he is trying to force...

While I understand the concern about accumulated nutrient buildup in the sediment upstream of the Conowingo Dam posing a hazard to the health of the Chesapeake Bay, as an engineer I do not see what the operation of the dam's power station has anything to do with it ("Maryland can enforce dam...

On an almost recurring basis lately, The Sun has devoted itself to bringing to everyone's attention the Eastern Shore poultry industry's polluted runoff flowing into the Chesapeake Bay ("Larry Hogan has a chance to be a green governor," Dec. 13). Attention should be directed to the Amish...

Congratulations to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on his inauguration. Mr. Hogan ran a terrific campaign, and we all look forward to his leadership on one of the most important roles, safeguarding the lands and waters of this beautiful state.

After talking about it for years, Maryland finally has proposed long-overdue regulations on phosphorous pollution from animal manure in the Chesapeake Bay ("Hogan vows to fight farm pollution rules," Dec. 8).